Refiner



Nov. 9, 1954 D. E. JONES REFINER Filed May 28, 1952 United States PatentO REFINER Dwight E. Jones, Pittsfield, Mass., assignor to E. D. Jones &Sons Company, Pittsfield, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Myinvention relates to new and useful improvements in a pulping machinefor use in disintegrating and mixing material and is directed moreparticularly to the provision of a disintegrator for use in making paperpulp from fibrous materials such as waste paper, rags, wood fibers andthe like.

While various types of pulping machines have been known heretofore, oneof the most eflicient types has been based upon a system including aninner roll revolvably mounted within an outer casing so as to form anannular passagetherewith, the revolving roll disintegrating the stockwhich is passed through the annular passage.

The pulping machine made according to my invention is a modified form ofthe above described type which yields improved results in terms ofquality of pulp and rate of production thereof.

It is one of the primary objects of the invention to provide structuraland operational improvements in machines of this general classification,which improvements simplify the Structure so as to make its constructionmore economical but also provide other advantages thereover insofar asStrength, durability and the like are concerned. Generally speaking, inmy construction pressure is applied so as to actuate the bed platethereby creating pressure against the ends of the rotor. Impellers onthe rotor throw the stock radially outward with a considerable velocityagainst the sides of the tank wall.

I accomplsh the above cited objects by means of such Structure andrelative arrangement of parts, as will fully appear by a perusal of thedescription below and by various specific features hereinafter setforth.

All of the above objects I accomplish by means of such Structure andrelative arrangements of parts thereof, as Will fully appear by aperusal of the description below and by various specific features whichwill be hereinafter set forth.

To the above cited and other ends and with the foregoing and variousother novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention aswill become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, myinvention consists in certain novel features of construction and in thecombination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter moreparticularly pointed out in the claim hereunto annexed and more fullydescribed and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

Fig. 1 is a broken plan view of the device of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

In the following description and claim, various details will beidentified by specific names for convenience. These names, however, areintended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail and referring moreparticularly to the preferred form of my invention selected forillustrative purposes, I have shown a tank or vat 2 which may be similarto the tank shown in U. S. Letters Patent #2,433,490 dated December 30,1947, having opposite side walls 4 and 4 and opposite end walls 6 and 6,which end walls are preferably curving so as to provide a tank ofsubstantally oval shape.

Annular rng-lke inner plates 8 are secured to opposite side walls 4 asby welding or the like and are disposed around openings 10 in the walls.Annular outer plates 12 are Secured to outer sides of the plates 8.

Housings, generally indicated by 14, are disposed out- ICC ' 2 wardly ofplates 12 and are supported relative thereto by struts 16 which aresuitably connected at opposite ends to the housings 14 and to the plates12.

v These housings 14 include hollow central portions such as 18 and innerand outer caps 18' and 22 respectively.

Anti-friction bearings24 within the central portions 18 of the housingsrotatably support a shaft 26 which extends outwardly atA 28 -throughtheouter cap 22 such as the one shown at the lefthand side of the machineas shown in Fig. 1.

The shaft may beconnected to a suitable source of power as by belts',Silent chainfor the like or it may be connected directly to a motorv orthe like, all as maybe desired. t'

A stufing box construction'indicated generally by 30 is carried by eachof the plates -12 to seal the rotatable shaft 26 in its rotation. V

Discs such as 32-adjacent and'inwardly of plates 12 are slidablerelative to the stufiingtboxes 30 and are disposed in the rings 12.These discs l32 on inner adjacent sides carry circumferentially spacedradially disposed blades or knives 34. The blades may be of any desiredform and cooperate with blades on a rotor about to be described. 3

A rotor generally indicated by 36 is fixed on the shaft 26 and ispreferably in the form of an elongated hollow drum 37 closed at oppositeends by end heads such as 38. By the employment of a full cone or roll,considerably large economies are efected.

Circumferential fianges 40 are secured to opposite ends of the rotor andhave inner adjacent faces which diverge relative to one another asshown.

Blades or impellers 42 at opposite ends of the drum extend outwardlytherefrom and have outer edges or faces which cooperate with the blades34 of the discs 32. These blades are preferably tangentially disposedrelative to the shaft 26 or inclined rearwardly from planes extendingtransversely through the axis of rotation of the shaft. That is to say,the blades 42 tilt rearwardly from the rotor relative to the directionof rotation thereof.

A pluralty of cylinders 50 are pivoted at 52 to brackets 54 fixed to thehousings 14 and have pistons 56 reciprocable therein. Rods 58 extendfrom the pistons 56 through stuflng boxes 60 carried by the plates 12and have inner ends Secured in the discs 32.

There may be as many cylinders and associated sets of Connections to thediscs as desired. In one non-limitative embodiment of the invention,four of the cylinders are shown as provided at each end of the machine.

These cylinders may be connected to a common source of pressure andpressure releasing means so that the pistons may be actuated andthereby, through the rods, move the discs 32 axially back and forth. Inthis way, the cooperating non-rotating blades 34 and the rotating bladesmay be related in any desired manner.

Ribs 62 and 64 are carried by the rotor and are arranged helicallythereon so that in the rotation thereof, the material being operatedupon is directed axially of the drum in opposite directions toward thecooperating blades at opposite ends of the rotor.

In Operation, upon the application of pressure from a common source, thecylinders are caused to actuate the bed plates whereby pressure iscreated against the ends of the rotor where the real disintegratingforces are at work with the result that the material being worked uponis thrown outwardly therefrom in the direction of the arrows to the endwalls of the tank and thence back toward the rotor at the midsectionthereof, also as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1.

I have determined through processes of experimentation that the bulk ofthe Work is done by the impellers and that the only purpose for theremainder of the rotor is to provide a very coarse, preliminary breakingaction. It may even be said that in some instances, the circulationcreated by the rest of the rotor is not desirable.

In prior art structures, the impellers thrw the stock radially outwardwith considerable velocity against the ends of the tank. This stock isreturned to the central area of the pulper and if there is a highturbulence in this area theV stock may be. pcked. up and again thrownout away from the rotor before it can reach the impellers. I havedetermined; however, that if there is little;` agitationi onl the. rotorit self, they stock is permitted. to reach the impeHersan this,accompiish;v` by mov-ing the stock Anore or' less tangentially andspira-llyV tothe rotor.- Ihe spiral-ly eurv'ecIi vanes aid intheaccornplishment of thisdesideratum.y The vanes 4'2farepangular1ydisposed so` as to moref er less draw the stockv into them. These vanesmay al-sobe set-Hin; sucha manner as to deflect the stok towardthebedplate. x

i The; in'yention; may be embodied in lother specific forms withoutdeparting from the essentialcharacteristics Vthereof;v Hence, thepresent enbodim'ents-- are therefore to be considered inT allrspect's'merely as. being illustrative andnot fasty being1 restrict-ive, thescope of the invention being indicated by the appended claimg ratherthan: by the. fore'going; des -:riptien,4 and a-ll: modifications andvariations as fall within the meaningand purview and range ofequivalency of the appended cia-im are' therefore y intended to beembraced ther'ein.- i

What it is-de ed to: clai'm andsecure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A pulping machine compris'ing in combination, a= ta-nk having vertca-llydisposed opposite side walls and oppo- 2 site end walls curvin'g. inopposite directions to saidside walls, an elongated cylindrical hollowrotor closed at opposite ends having parallel impeffor'ate' side walls,4end shafts extending from opposite ends of the rotor through stuffingboxes provided insaid side walls and bearing means for said end shaftsoutside said side walls rotatably supporting said shafts and rotor, ribsfixed to the outer side of the walls of the rotor extending helicallyoutwardly in opposite directions from intermediate opposite ends of therotor for' directing stock in the tank outwardly during rotation of the'rotor towards said side walls and around said end walls, disc members atopposite ends of said rotator around said shaft ends having inner faces.and being sl'idably mounted in said side walls for movements towards andaway from the ends of the rotor, blades fixed to the periphery of saidrotor at opposite ends thereof extending outwardlyl radially of saidperiphery and havingl working edges disposed transversely to the axis ofr'otation of said' rotor, and blades fixed to inner faces of said discmembers arranged for coaction with working edges of the blade ofy therotor.

References Cited in thefiieV of this. patent' UNITED STATES PATENTS;

Number Name i Date 342,802 Marshall June 1,. 1'8'8'6 1,951,51 9 Milne vMar.. 2'0; 1.934 2,309,376 Avery V V Jan. 26; 1943 2,527`,772,` Stapleyet al. Oct. 3'1, 1,950 2,567,885 Jones v.. V.. Sept.. l.1,. 1951

